Dismal survey results suggest most would try to wait out stroke

When asked what they would do if experiencing the hallmark symptoms of stroke, only about one in three people under age 45 said they would very likely head to the hospital.

Rather, most said they would likely spend the first 3 hours after onset of weakness, numbness, and speech or vision problems waiting to see if their symptoms improved, according to a national survey by David Liebeskind, MD, and colleagues at UCLA Medical Center.

The proportion saying they were somewhat to very likely to wait to see if the symptoms went away fell with age:

75% among those 18 to 34 years old

71% among those 35 to 44 years old

65% among those 45 to 54 years old

63% among those 55 to 64 years old

58% among those 65 and older

"That's a real problem," Liebeskind said in a press release . "We need to educate younger people about the symptoms of stroke and convince them of the urgency of the situation, because the numbers are going up."

The press release from his institution on the findings, which were not published in a peer-reviewed journal, noted that strokes in adults 45 and younger have been on the rise since the mid-1990's.

The survey was done by Opinion Research Corporation by calling a random sample of land-line and mobile phone numbers to survey 1,009 U.S. adults, among whom 256 were 18 to 44 years old. They were asked, "If you had the following symptoms -- weakness, numbness, difficulty speaking or difficulty seeing -- how likely would you be to do each of the following within the first 3 hours?" and presented six possible actions.

While roughly a third of those surveyed said they were not likely to go to the emergency room, that proportion spiked to 51% in the youngest group.

The proportion who said they would likely take an aspirin in the first 3 hours showed less of a divide, at 44% to 48% in all groups under age 55 and 51% and 57% in the two oldest groups, respectively.

Notably, the most popular "very likely" option overall, pooling all the age groups, was "drink a glass of water"; while "take a nap" was the least endorsed strategy.